Carrier Mills Village Board nixes contract trash-hauling proposal
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Carrier Mills officials got an earful from residents who don't want a trash-hauling franchise in the village. In the end, the Village Board gave in to the demands of those attending the meeting and tabled further talk of a town-wide trash contract at Tuesday night's meeting.
The proposal, in its infancy, involved contracting with a trash hauler and adding the charge to everyone's water bills, thus requiring everyone to use the village's contractual trash service. The village would have accepted bids and awarded the contract to the lowest bidder. There was preliminary talk of adding some money to the bill for the cash-strapped village.
Danny Gibbs, co-owner of SIDCO trash company, said state law does not allow the village to add service charges beyond what is needed to meet contractual obligations.
"So how are you going to make revenue off your disposal contract?" Gibbs said.
Gibbs and Kathy Beardsley, owner of KB Disposal, passed out fliers on Monday asking people to come to the meeting. Over 100 people attended the meeting, which became contentious at times. Jessie Westfall said while passing petitions against a street-lighting surcharge proposal she learned people are deeply dissatisfied with how things are being run in the village. She was going to suggest ideas for how the village could save and raise money, "But nobody wants to back you because they have such a bad attitude toward the board," Westfall said.
Among of a long list of problems, police officers and family members get away with too much like speeding and running stop signs, Westfall said. That contention came up again several times during the meeting.
Gibbs suggested the board could face dire consequences at the polls if the trash-contract measure passed.
"They have the right to do this without your vote," Gibbs said to the crowd. "That doesn't mean they will be sitting here after the next election."
Board member Greg Prince said there is a constant problem with people not having their trash hauled away. Accumulation of trash leads to public health problems and, eventually, vermin like rats and mice.
"So I can see both sides," Prince said.
The three-county solid waste plan requires everyone to have a trash hauler, Gibbs said. If the solid waste plan is enforced at the local level, then concerns about trash in the village should be alleviated, Gibbs said.
Some in the audience suggested the board's priorities are out of order. Several said if vacant, dilapidated houses were cleaned up, there would be fewer problems with trash.
"You want to talk about mice and rats? It's only made worse by raggedy homes," one woman said.
Mayor Louis Shaw said tearing down dilapidated houses is expensive -- too expensive when the village is in dire straits financially. A few houses have been torn down in recent years, but the legal steps to raze a house are expensive enough to require a slow approach.
"To do 50 would bankrupt the village," Shaw said.
Shaw, who said he was not the board member who came up with the trash contract idea, tried to lay out the pros and cons of a trash contract.
"Part of the idea is a city-wide franchise should be cheaper. Eldorado pays $10.50 (monthly). I don't think anyone in Carrier Mills pays less than $15," Shaw said.
Several in the audience said they pay $15 or more. And someone said Eldorado's monthly bill to residents for trash hauling is $11, not $10.50.
The proposal would cut costs for the franchise owner since the Water Department would collect the bills on behalf of the hauler, Shaw said. And, the hauler would be able to go house-to-house instead of skipping around, which leads to missing people, Shaw said.
Shaw agreed the proposal has a downside, including cutting into the business of haulers already operating here. About five trash haulers have routes in Carrier Mills.
Several in the crowd said they were satisfied with their current trash haulers and don't want to be told they have to change.
Alice Oertle, who has had SIDCO for a long time, said "I resent someone telling me I can't have him."
Patsy Nolen said, "We don't live in Russia where they tell you that you have to have this trash man."
Nolen wondered why the village cannot pick up trash that is not being hauled away, then fine the people who allowed the trash to accumulate.
Gibbs and Beardsley both were appreciative of the large crowd.
"I appreciate everybody who came out and supported us. It just leaves me speechless," Beardsley said.
Gibbs said he would help the village with town-wide cleanup programs. He will match any competing hauler who will donate rollout boxes for cleanup campaigns, Gibbs said. Gibbs said he would also help by hauling away salvage accumulated by the village free-of-charge.
Beardsley and Danny Hansen, general manager of Bulldog Systems, said they would participate in a cleanup effort. Hansen said his company would sign on if there are ground rules for the effort.
Prince said the board should consider the haulers' offers in more detail during committee meetings. Board members unanimously agreed. The also agreed unanimously to table discussion of a trash-hauling contract.
"Citywide trash has been postponed for the foreseeable future," Geoff Absher said.
Street lighting surcharge
A proposal to add a surcharge for street lights to water bills also was tabled indefinitely.
The board had at prior meetings discussed the surcharge -- possibly in the $3 range -- as a way of offsetting increasing costs for street lights.
Street lights are currently paid for out of the Motor Fuel Tax Fund rather than the General Fund. However, since MFT funds are declining and electric rates have risen, the street lights have gradually become a financial burden in the MFT account, Shaw said. The price has risen from about $1,200 per month to over $2,000 per month.
But offsetting the cost of street lights with a surcharge didn't settle well with several residents. Westfall's petition opposing the street-lighting surcharge was signed by 203 people, she said.
Westfall suggested turning off some of the lights, particularly those in
mid-block, to save money. When the village had more money and street lighting was cheaper, street lights were virtually available on request. But the cost of keeping all those lights on has risen.
Financial problems
Board members agreed to more layoffs in the wake of the village's financial problems, which are mostly due to late state income tax payments and the possibility of deep state budget cuts.
Police officer Chuck Welge was reduced to on-call status only, with no regular hours. Derek Field voted no.
A motion to reduce Police officer Philip Bailey, who works one day per week, to on-call only was defeated. Bill Jensik, Jim Swan, Greg Prince and Derek Field voted no; David Kyle and Geoff Absher voted yes. Street and Alley Department employee Adam Henson was laid off. Prince and Field voted no.
All overtime was restricted, except with the prior approval of a committee chairman. The Water Department will continue overtime for employees repairing leaks or breaks after hours. Chief of Police Billy Duncan's hours were restricted to 20 per week.
The layoffs and overtime restrictions were arrived at during monthly committee meetings and were discussed for a very short time at the regular meeting.
Shaw said more personnel reductions are possible.
The budget for next fiscal year was passed last night. The budget includes a $68,000 decrease in spending, which amounts to a 14 percent cut.
"It's the lowest budget we've had in five years," Absher said.
Several board members, including Shaw, Absher, Field, Prince, Jensik and Village Clerk Rita Diefenbach, gave back their monthly salaries after a challenge by Westfall for board members to forgo their salaries during the fiscal crisis.
The state currently owes the village about $36,000 in income tax money, Shaw said. The village has pulled $20,000 out of savings and $10,000 from other accounts to keep the General Fund afloat.
A proposal by Gov. Pat Quinn to reduce by 30 percent the local share of income taxes paid by the state would lead to $43,000 in annual losses for the village, Shaw said.
"It could cost over 1,000 policemen their jobs statewide," Shaw said.